Day of the Tournament
by Soul Jelly
Summary: It's Kadic Academy's annual inter-school PokeBattling competition! Perfect day for a XANA attack, naturally. Crossover AU.
1. Part One

_A/N: Firstly, thanks to AeonFrodo for her helpful input on this one, born after a random thought on my part and then an interesting conversation we had. Yeah, I don't really know either, but hey, this has been tremendous fun to write._

* * *

**Day of the Tournament**

* * *

It was evening, and Kadic Academy was quiet as it should be, most of the school's inhabitants having fallen asleep with an unquenchable air of excitement wrapped about their thoughts.

One Ulrich Stern, sleepless with anxiety and a racing mind, closed his bedroom door with a soft _click_ and ventured out into the corridor. Every few steps he paused, waiting, ears straining for the slightest unnatural sound, or any telltale sign that someone was waking. If he was caught it would be all over.

Padding through hallways and down flights of stairs with bare, silent feet, Ulrich finally reached his destination, and finding the door of the gymnasium unlocked, pushed his weight down on the door handle and stepped inside. From the high windows, the very last beams of light from the dying summer sun filtered, casting long shadows in aimless patterns across the walls and floor. In this shadowy almost-darkness, Ulrich's free hand groped for a switch on the wall; a moment later and the room was flooded with artificial light which chased away most of the shadows.

Ulrich approached the centre of the room, subconsciously flexing the bare muscles of his arms in preparation of the session ahead. He wore his usual training gear, baggy grey pants and a thin black tank top stretched over the muscles of his chest. Clutched in his right hand was a sphere, each red and white half separated by a band of black and a small white button in the centre.

After one last check to ensure that the surrounding rooms were empty, Ulrich threw the PokéBall.

The sphere bounced once, shook, and flew open, erupting jagged red light. Then the light faded, and Ulrich faced the creature before him with a smirk.

"Hey," he said to it. "I couldn't sleep and I wasn't too keen on the idea of lying there listening to Odd snoring until sunrise. Want to spar?"

The Pokémon grinned, revealing glistening white fangs that stood out stark and sharp against glossy dark fur. The Lucario raised his front paws in a fighting stance and Ulrich did the same. With barely a nod between them, they took their cue, and began.

Ulrich sprang forward, fist aiming for Lucario's stomach, but was blocked with a strong paw which caught the appendage and hurled him backwards, only for Ulrich to try again with a powerful roundhouse kick. It glanced off Lucario's side and the Pokémon uttered a low growl, jabbing forward with his palm and forcing Ulrich to block with two crossed elbows. They fought together for a while, almost in perfect sync, and as Ulrich focused every thought and motion into constructing methods of offence and defence, he felt his anxiety sliding away.

A handspring merged flawlessly into a kick and the power behind Lucario's blow sent Ulrich staggering backwards even as he raised an arm to block the attack. Beads of sweat rolled down the boy's back, following the tense, jutting curve of his shoulder blade, and his hair was plastered damply to his forehead. Regaining his footing he leapt backwards, putting space between himself and his opponent, and the Pokémon took the silent cue to stand down as they both regained their breath. Two sets of ragged breathing echoed in the stillness of the gym and Lucario gave a soft growl. The sound took Ulrich back, with a sudden clarity, to a time long ago.

_"A Pokémon?" Mr Stern was incredulous and he dropped his briefcase with a heavy thud by the still-open front door, watching with an expression of growing distaste as a small blue and black Riolu sniffed curiously at his legs. Ulrich's mother remained in the hallway, fidgeting and looking sheepish._

_"The neighbours were giving it away," she hastened to explain, "and I just thought, well-" Here she glanced about before lowering her voice, and continued, "He doesn't have many friends, or any at all really, and I thought it might help his confidence a bit-"_

_She was cut off by a painful-sounding smack and a loud cry of "OW!"_

_Mr and Mrs Stern turned and their ten-year-old son blushed as he picked himself up from the floor, his hiding place behind the living-room door given away by a fall on untied shoelaces. Young Ulrich stood under the gazes of his parents, scuffling his shoes, with the laces still untied, across the carpet. Finally he raised his head to stare up at his father, sullen and nervous, and at Mr Stern's feet the Riolu puppy did the same, red __eyes huge and shiny and pleading._

_"You should be working on your grades and making some real friends, not gallivanting around with Pokémon," Mr Stern began, and Ulrich's expression began to crumple._

_"Please, Dad!" he begged. "I'll train him, and look after him, and I'll study every night, I promise!"_

_All eyes were fixed on the older man then, and as though to block them out he squeezed his eyes tightly closed, pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation and breathing deeply, prepared to plunge into a decision he expected he would regret. Ulrich's mother exchanged a glance with her son, now hugging the puppy Pokémon tightly, and silently urged her husband to do the best thing he might ever do by his son._

_"Fine," Mr Stern concluded, the words barely even out of his mouth before Ulrich was whooping with joy._

_"Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"_

_"Rioluuuu!" the Pokémon barked._

Ulrich felt his breathing and heart rate slowing at last to normal as his mind drifted back to the present and he ran his tongue over his dry lips, wishing he'd thought to bring a water bottle with him. He stretched his arms and hopped from foot to foot, and sensing the next rounding beginning, his Pokémon did the same. They slipped into mirroring fighting stances, knees bent, clenched fists raised before their faces.

The grades thing was never going to work out, Ulrich mused to himself as he studied Lucario's stance critically, seeking an opening. Not even when they had sent him to the prestigious Kadic Academy. Maybe he would have stood a chance if it weren't for XANA; not that that could be helped. But there was martial arts, and there was soccer, and there was this.

Ulrich moved too late, and Lucario threw the first punch this time. The boy ducked quickly beneath it, swinging out his leg in a wide arc to knock the Pokémon's knees out from under it.

The day of the tournament was tomorrow. Another day, another chance to prove himself at something.

They fought with renewed vigour.

* * *

"Odd Della Robbia! If I've told you once I've told you a hundred times – no Pokémon in the corridors!"

The guilty party tried to duck away from Suzanne Hertz's wrath but to no avail. Aipom, the Pokémon in question, fixed the science teacher with its most sincere expression as it poked its head out sheepishly from the top of Odd's backpack, but Mrs Hertz remained unmoved.

"Aw, but Ma'am," Odd protested, withering under the teacher's stern gaze. "He hates being cooped up inside a PokeBall all day. Don't you, 'Nana?" He petted the purple, monkey-like creature fondly as it leaned over his shoulder before glancing back hopefully to Mrs Hertz.

"Don't give me that look, either of you."

"But-"

"You know the rules, Della Robbia. And if you don't start obeying them sharpish you can forget about entering the tournament this afternoon." Odd opened his mouth to protest, but Mrs Hertz simply held up one hand to silence him. "Now put that Aipom back in its PokéBall, and I don't want to see those balls of yours for the rest of the morning, understood?"

Ulrich sniggered behind his hand as Odd mumbled a "yes Ma'am" and, reaching for one of the red and white spheres at his belt, pressed a button on it. Aipom chittered as it was captured in a ball of light, shrinking down to nothing and disappearing instantly. Odd dropped the PokéBall reluctantly into his backpack.

"Good. Off to class with you now," Mrs Hertz said, not unkindly, and stepped aside to let Odd, Ulrich and Jérémie past. As soon as they were out of earshot, the three boys burst into laughter.

"Oh man," Ulrich said, clutching his sides. "Your face, Odd! I've never seen you look so frightened."**  
**

"I was worried for a second there," Odd admitted as they pushed open the door of their classroom and walked over to where Aelita was already sitting, smiling as they approached. "Imagine if she hadn't let me compete this afternoon! After all the work me and 'Nana have put in!" Flinging his bag onto the desk, he took his seat next to Ulrich. "Anyway. How about you three? Pysched for some Pokémon battling?"

Ulrich shrugged and yawned loudly, reaching lethargically for a pen to copy answers onto his Biology homework sheet from the paper Aelita pushed across the desk towards him. "Uh, yeah," he said distractedly. "I think so... wait Aelita, can I just write about how any Grass-type Pokémon contributes to photosynthesis for this one?"

"No, you had to work from the example," she said. "See?" She pointed out something on the sheet and Ulrich cursed under his breath, scribbling something out with undue venom and muttering something angrily about "stupid Bellsprouts, I'll never even train one anyway."

"Sorry, Odd," Aelita finally addressed him. "Yeah, I've never Pokémon battled before, but it should be fun. I'm really excited!" Then she bent her head again, leaning towards Ulrich to watch him make the final hurried amendments to his homework before Mrs Hertz caught up with them and entered the room.

Odd leaned back in his chair and turned to Jérémie.

"And you Einstein? Been training hard?"

Jérémie rolled his eyes slightly and cast a quick glance around the room before lowering his voice. "Odd, you _know_ I don't have time to practise for Pokémon battles," he pointed out exasperatedly. "I'll need to be keeping an eye on the super-scan today in case our good friend XANA decides to launch an attack."

"Now would be as good a time as any," Ulrich mumbled. He was too tired to focus on the conversation and barely registered his best friend's outrage.

"Einstein, you can find time to enter a robotics contest and a science fair but not one teensy Pokémon tournament? Come on!" Odd protested.

"Sorry Odd. Besides, I haven't even signed up. And Pokémon battling isn't really my thing anyway... When you guys have been training, Albert and I worked overtime on getting some new stuff done to improve your performance on Lyoko." He patted the PokéBall containing his Porygon fondly before closing up his backpack and nudging it back underneath the desk with his foot.

"Yeah, that's the thing with XANA," Odd conceded. "It has perfect timing. Or should I say, perfectly bad timing. Like that time it possessed Milly's Teddiursa..."

"Or that flock of Murkrow," Aelita added.

"And the Gyarados incident. I'll never look at fish in quite the same way again." Odd shivered a little at the memory and then abruptly changed the subject. "Hey, you guys! If XANA had a Pokémon, which one would it have?"

"A Missingno, probably," said Jérémie with a little snort of laughter at his own joke. This turned quickly to a cough as he found the others staring at him with blank expressions on their faces.

"A what?" asked Ulrich.

Aelita blinked slowly. "I don't get it..."

"Uh. Never mind," Jérémie said awkwardly, and the conversation was cut short at that moment Mrs Hertz finally walked in.

"Sorry I'm late, class. I just had to collect some photocopies." She dropped an armful of papers onto her desk. "Now I thought since lessons are mostly cancelled today to make way for this afternoon's event, we should have a relaxed class with a little quiz."

This was met with mixed responses, many of which soon turned to cheers as the students were told to get into groups and pick a team name. _Those_ kinds of quizzes were never too bad, and no lesson could seem too much of a drag when the school day was cut short to make way for something as exciting as the annual Kadic Pokémon tournament.

The class ended in no time at all and soon the students were filing out. Jérémie glanced at his watch.

"We still have another hour until lunch you guys. I need to go and get my laptop and a couple of discs."

"We'll come with you," Aelita offered.

"Good idea!" said Odd. "I need to check on Kiwi anyway, so let's go."

Ulrich trailed behind the group as they began to walk. The others talked on their way up to the boys' dormitory but he was lost in thought, focusing on the upcoming battles. He had trained hard for this, including the late-night session last evening which left him more tired than he cared to admit; after all he was aiming to impress Yumi as well as his parents who were coming to watch, by winning the whole thing.

They arrived on the boys' dorms corridor and Odd raced ahead to his and Ulrich's room, bursting through the door and calling for his pet. Kiwi barked his greeting, racing towards Odd and attacking him with affectionate licks.

"Hey little diggity-dog!" Scratching Kiwi behind the ears with one hand and reaching for his backpack with the other, Odd pressed the release button on the first PokéBall, releasing his Aipom who clambered up onto his shoulders. The second PokéBall was pressed; seconds later a Granbull stood fully-formed on the floor and immediately Kiwi gave a low growl, ears pressed flat to his head. He was not used to this new member of the team, who appeared to be a dog but smelt like no dog Kiwi had ever encountered before. The Granbull stood quietly, examining Kiwi, rival to his master's affections, with serious eyes.

"Aw come on Kiwi, Melon. Don't be fighting now." Odd scratched them both behind the ears once more, gaining two slobbery hands for his trouble.

"I'll still never understand what your obsession is with naming things after fruits," said Ulrich, sitting down heavily on his bed. "First Kiwi, then Banana and now Melon... you're too weird sometimes." He shook his head at his best friend, but he was grinning.

"I'd have the others here too, if only... this two Pokemon limit per student is real unfair." Odd crossed his arms stubbornly and frowned. "The rest of my poor little Pokemon have to live at home with Mom and Dad. I bet they're missing me more than ever."

"It's only fair Odd. Imagine if everyone here had a full team of six Pokemon – with hundreds of students and staff, that's hundreds and hundreds of Pokemon. We're lucky they're allowed on the premises at all."

"Well I'd feel a lot better about it if weren't for Sissi having another two Pokemon hidden in her bedroom," Odd scoffed.

"Yeah but look at it this way – if you ever rat her out, she'll just spill the beans on Kiwi and where would you be then?"

Just then, Jérémie and Aelita poked their heads around the doorway.

"We've got everything. You all ready to go?" she asked.

"Sure."

"Yup! Hey Kiwi, Melon, don't you two fight whilst I'm gone okay? We'll go for walkies later!"

Leaving the dog and the Pokémon curled up on opposite sides of the room, the students closed the door behind them and headed back the way they had come.

**/**

Meanwhile, Sissi Delmas entered her bedroom, kicking off her shoes and about to head over to her dresser when a recurring bumping sound caught her attention. She turned to the window and there was a huge Beautifly bumping futilely into the pane outside, just below the gap where the window was opened.

Sissi stared at it for a moment and then groaned.

"How many times have I... the gap is _right there_ you stupid thing!"

Striding over, she reached through the window and pulled the butterfly-like Pokémon inside, feeding it through the gap until it was safely inside the room where it fluttered madly for a while in mid air before attaching itself to the top of the wardrobe.

"Stay in here now, so I don't have to worry about you wandering off," Sissi called to it.

The Pokémon uttered a cry in response, flapping its wings a few times and settling down once more. That done, Sissi flopped down onto her bed for a moment, reaching towards the three PokéBalls on her bedside table. She examined each of them thoughtfully.

"Who to battle with today..." she mused. "I've got to use my best moves if I want to impress Ulrich." She thought about each of the Pokémon, admiring especially her Beautifly's wings with its myriad of bright colours. All of her Pokémon were cute and pretty, just like her, and all of them would be looking their best. With this in mind she discarded the PokéBalls for a moment and headed back over to her vanity table to touch up her make-up. She would have preferred the event today to be a Pokémon Contest, really. Sissi scowled as she remembered how that conversation with her father had gone.

"_But Daddy!" Sissi exclaimed, stamping her foot and pounding both hands down on her father's desk. "Pokémon battles are so violent! Contests are much prettier, like me, and besides, I'm better at them!"_

_Principal Delmas cleared his throat uncomfortably with the air of one bracing themselves to stand their ground in the face of an explosion. "Sissi, dear. I know you're training to be a Co-ordinator, but Pokémon Battles are just more... well..."_

_"Well nothing! Not everyone likes Pokémon battles, despite what you seem to think."_

_"I didn't say that, Elisabéth."_

_Sissi faltered; her father only usually called her by her full name when he was distracted or angry, and she couldn't risk him being angry today in case he grounded her from the tournament. "Yes, but-" she mumbled weakly._

_"Sissi, dear. We're a school of academics and Pokémon Training. Battles are expected here. Besides," he reassured her, "__If things run smoothly and there's enough interest, maybe we'll have a Contest next year too."_

And that was all Sissi could negotiate down to. She realised then that she was scowling, and relaxed her face so that she could apply her mascara better, applying minimal concentration so she could still wander in thought. Suddenly overcome with a feeling of fed-upness, she sighed.

"Maybe if I prove to Ulrich how good at battling I am, he'll finally go out with me."

"Beaaau," her Beautifly chirruped.

**/**

"Come oooon Yumi! The food will all be gone if you don't hurry up!"

Odd craned his neck to see over the crowd of students leaving the ninth grade Spanish lesson and the others gathered against a nearby row of lockers, rolling their eyes.

"Odd, I swear you were a Snorlax in another life, or something," said Ulrich.

"What's a Snorlax?" asked Aelita, never having seen one before and not yet having learned about every single Pokémon since her materialisation on Earth almost a year ago.

Jérémie was busy explaining to her when Yumi finally filed out of the classroom, and the genius boy and pink-clad girl fell into step a little ways behind the group, discussing Pokémon and supercomputer mechanics. They didn't see William accompany Yumi out of the classroom, nor the cold stare Ulrich gave him as he squeezed Yumi's shoulder, flashed her a grin, and strode away.

It was lunchtime, and with Yumi having joined them Odd, as usual, began racing for the cafeteria as though his life depended on it. It was to be an early lunch, and after that the tournament was to begin. Already the school playing field had been converted to an appropriate battle-ground, and the stalls were filling up with the earliest arrivals of spectators.

As soon as Odd had finished his third helping of lasagne, helped by Banana the Aipom hiding once more in his backpack, the group filed outside.

All there was left to do was wait and, now safely out in the school grounds, they could let their Pokémon out of their PokéBalls. Odd's Aipom sat cheerfully upon his shoulder, leaping down to greet Aelita's Cleffa, nicknamed Robin, when it was released. Albert the Porygon floated at Jérémie's side, keeping an eye on the case that held Jérémie's laptop.

Yumi kneeled on the grass, checking her Absol over. The white and black feline creature looked edgy and kept pawing the ground, tossing its head now and then in the direction of the school gates.

"Kage," Yumi addressed it quietly. "Kage calm down, there's nothing to worry about. I think she gets a little nervous in crowds," she added to Ulrich who had come to crouch beside her. Ulrich ran one hand tentatively along the creature's back, trying to help soothe it and Yumi smiled at him gratefully as, between the two of them, the Pokémon's agitation ceased.

"That's better. Thanks Ulrich. I really-" Yumi stood up, going instantly quiet as they heard a familiar and entirely unwelcome call of "Ulrich deeear!"

Soon enough Sissi Delmas was crossing the field towards them, Nicholas and Herb and their respective Pokémon in tow. Strutting along beside Sissi was a freshly groomed Jigglypuff, its cute, wide eyes belying the cocky smirk on its face which matched that of its Trainer's.

"What do you want Sissi?" asked Ulrich.

"I just wanted to wish you luck in the tournament today Ulrich," Sissi explained, smiling at him and swaying her hips slightly. Jigglypuff mimicked the movement and to one side Odd mimed it as well, to which Ulrich and the others smirked. Herb shot Ulrich a nasty look, his Raticate skulking about his knees. Nicholas was watching the gathering crowds absently-mindedly; at his feet, his Slowpoke had fallen asleep.

"Well, thanks," Ulrich said, though still maintaining the air of someone who couldn't be less interested in interacting with the person before him.

"Have you been training hard?" Sissi pressed, oblivious to the boy's stand-offish attitude, or if she was aware of it, was choosing to ignore it. "Because I certainly have. Who knows, we might even get to battle one another today."

"Yeah." Ulrich's voice was laced with sarcasm. "That'd be such a joy."

Sissi smirked, hands planted on her hips now. "You know it'd be fun. Say, how about if I win, I get to take you on a little date?"

Yumi, standing behind Ulrich, tensed visibly at this. Ulrich fixed Sissi with a glare.

"How about no."

Sticking her nose in the air, Sissi scoffed. "Suit yourself. Just know that I won't be going easy on you if we do battle, Ulrich dear."

Suddenly Odd let out a huge yawn and made a great show of edging over and rubbing his eyes.

"Oh hey Sissi," he said. "Sorry, was your Jigglypuff singing just now? Because whatever it was, it sent me straight to sleep!"

Ulrich, Yumi, Jérémie and Aelita laughed, and an indignant blush flooded Sissi's face. "Real funny Odd," she sneered. "Come on Nicholas, Herb. Let's go. I've got a Pokémon tournament to win." She tossed her hair over her shoulder with a flick of her head and Jigglypuff flicked its own curl of poofy pink hair in tandem. The group of them stormed away and Ulrich gave a sigh of relief.

"I thought she'd never leave."

"Tell me about it," Yumi said, still rankled by Sissi's audacity earlier. It was soon Ulrich's turn to become rankled however, as William strolled past with his Luxray loping along at his side.

"Hey everyone. Hi Yumi."

"William! Strife!" she smiled at the Trainer and Pokémon duo and closed the gap between them, bending down to stroke the Luxray's fur. "How's it going?"

"Not bad. We're excited for the tournament this afternoon. Bet you are too, huh?" He grinned at her from beneath unruly black hair and Yumi blushed slightly.

"Yeah, we are."

Absol pattered up beside her and mewled its agreement, nodding in a friendly way to Strife the Luxray. Once more it turned its head in the direction of the school gates, its wise, dark eyes pondering something unseen. Luxray swished its tail and, beneath the shade of a nearby tree, Lucario tensed.

William looked over to where the rest of Yumi's friends were standing, all oblivious to their Pokémon's wordless conversation, and called,

"Say Ulrich, are you entering?"

"'Course I am!" the younger boy replied. Infuriatingly, William grinned even wider and held out his hand for Ulrich to shake.

"In that case, good luck. Hope we get to battle at some point."

Ulrich glared at him but shook his hand firmly. Odd, Aelita and Jérémie stood back, watching the tense scene awkwardly. Yumi hovered, looking embarrassed in the silence that ensued.

"Well!" Jérémie spoke up suddenly, making to head off in the opposite direction. "I'm off to get a good seat before the matches start. Good luck everyone!" Jérémie nodded to them, Porygon hovering at his shoulder and waving one blocky limb.

"I'll stop by later Jérémie."

"'Later Einstein!"

"Bye Jérémie."

They all watched him leave and then it suddenly seemed to dawn on William that he wasn't welcome, at least as far as Ulrich was concerned. With a casual wave over his shoulder, he headed off into the crowd.

"I need to get going too, last minute preparation and all. Come on, Strife. Good luck everyone and see you later!"

As soon as he had disappeared into the crowds, Yumi rounded on Ulrich.

"What was all that about?" she snapped. Ulrich crossed his arms defensively and Odd and Aelita took a step back, Cleffa and Aipom trying to hide themselves in their respective Trainers' hair. Kage stood close to Yumi, looking up at her nervously.

"What was all what about?"

"Oh come on Ulrich! William comes over here trying to be nice, and suddenly you're all-"

There was the deafening screech of a megaphone and everyone in the immediate vicinity grimaced, hands flying up to cover their ears. Then there came a cough, again magnified ten times, followed at last by the voice of Jim Moralés.

"Is this thing on? Testing, testing. Uh... attention everyone! Will all students competing this afternoon please head over to the far side of the field. Spectators are advised to take their seats as the event will begin shortly."

The announcement sparked a fresh flurry of activity, this one driven with a sense of purpose as competitiors gathered on one side of the field, adjacent to the stalls were the spectators were sitting. The noise gradually died down as Principal Delmas came into view. He strode over to where a small podium had been set up, followed by his Swalot and Jim Moralés. Clearing his throat, Delmas spoke into the small microphone clipped to the stand before him.

"Good afternoon, everyone," he began, "And welcome to our annual inter-school Pokemon Battling Competition. Now as you all know and expect from Kadic Academy, our students work hard all year around in academics and sports, but of course Pokemon are a significant part of many of our students' lives and so this year, we are once again pleased to present..."

Odd hopped from foot to foot and uttered a low whine of impatience. "Come ooon," he moaned, tapping his hand across the pokeball at his belt. "Like we haven't heard this a million times! Let's just get on with it already!"

"And so," Delmas continued, "due the limited number of Pokemon each student is permitted to have, plus the high number of contestants, the tournament will be a knock-out with one match per round. After each one-on-one Pokemon match the winner progresses to the next round until we are left with a winner. Our staff have sorted the matches already by random selection" - here he gestured to Suzanne Hertz, standing to one side with a clipboard - "and we will announce the match-ups in just a moment."

"Finally!" Odd exclaimed.


	2. Part Two

_A/N: A wild update appeared! :O Fun fact: Whilst writing this, I came up with an awesome crackpot theory explaining the mechanics of the supercomputer using the mechanics of the Pokémon Storage System. Sadly it has no place in this fic. Definite side-story material though, so look out for a oneshot series set in this universe. Oh and, Robin Goodfellows is Mister Puck's alias in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', hence the nickname for Aelita's Cleffa._

___Thanks for your interest and patience, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter._

* * *

**Day of the Tournament**

* * *

Jérémie pushed his glasses a little further up the bridge of his nose and re-read the last paragraph of the article for the third time.

He scrutinised the page but the noises of the crowd around him infringed relentlessly upon his concentration, until finally he gave up and placed his copy of _PokéScience & Vie _magazine aside. He cast an automatic glance down to his feet, where sure enough, his laptop case was still resting against his shins. It was now swelteringly hot, and even with the sleeves of his turtleneck rolled up and a cold bottle of water in his hands, Jérémie felt stifled and uncomfortable.

He scanned the crowd across the arena for his friends and a smile alighted on his face as he finally spotted a familiar head of bubblegum-pink. He watched Aelita and the others engaged in excited discussion, Odd gesturing wildly, and wondered what they were talking about. His brow creased and for a moment he felt the tiniest twinge of regret that he wasn't participating. Jérémie didn't notice Milly elbowing her way through the crowd, her Teddiursa clinging to her back with its paws around the red-haired girl's neck, only doing so when she slid into the empty seat beside him, adjusting the large sheaf of papers in her arms.

"Hi Jérémie!"

"Huh? Oh, hello Milly."

He was just looking behind her for Tamiya, surprised to see the two of them separated for once, when she beamed at him and peeled a few stapled-together sheets from the top of the pile, handing it to him. "Want a copy?"

He took it automatically and glanced down at the cover of this week's _Kadic News._

"Special edition huh?"

"That's right! We have an entire double-page feature covering the Pokémon tournament. Um," here she blushed and directed her gaze out towards the crowd, where the competitors were receiving their match-ups. "Jérémie, do you think, maybe, you could get Ulrich to agree to an interview? He's a good Trainer, and it'd be really interesting to talk to him about it, you know..." she bit her lip anxiously and hugged her papers close to her chest again.

"Have you asked him about it?"

"Um..."

He blinked and realised her predicament a second later. Milly couldn't so much as make eye contact with Ulrich without dissolving into a blushing wreck who tripped over her own feet.

"Sure," he said kindly. "I'll ask him about it later. I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"Thank you Jérémie!" Milly's face broke into a grin and she stood up once more. "I've got to go and hand out the rest of these copies. See you later!"

"See ya."

Jérémie rested his chin on his hands and looked out over the arena. Jim, Principal Delmas and Mrs Hertz were hovering around the announcer's podium, Jim suddenly breaking off to split up a scuffle between two Pokémon, Mrs Hertz was wearing a huge pair of sunglasses along with her characteristic lab coat, and her Magnemite floated at her shoulder. The rest of the staff were mulling around directing spectators to their seats. Jéremie smiled slightly to himself. He was determined to relax and enjoy this, XANA attack forthcoming or no. The AI had terrible timing, but it had been known to take a week off now and then.

It hadn't felt like too long, but ten minutes later Milly returned, arms now empty of _Kadic News_ issues and a bottle of water in hand instead. Just as she was about to resume her seat beside Jérémie, she was almost knocked from her feet, stumbling forward into the row of people below as a spectator swept carelessly past her.

"Hey, why don't you watch where you're going?!" Milly yelled in indignation, but then she turned and froze as she stared up at the imposing figure. They were tall, wearing a long coat - far too impractical for this kind of weather - a wide-brimmed hat and dark glasses. The girl and the stranger stared at one another for a moment, though in this light and with the brim of the hat casting the person into shadow, they looked eerie and faceless. Jérémie peered into that sillhouette, searching out a sign that this was someone he knew, and finding none. They might have caught one another's eye, Jérémie couldn't tell, but then the stranger turned with an almost robotic movement and disappeared further up the steps to sink into the crowd.

"Who was that?" Milly asked, turning to Jérémie with a frown.

"I've no idea." Automatically he glanced downwards. His laptop, still in case, remained stubbornly silent.

_Probably nothing. I hope._

"Oh well." With a sigh, Milly perched herself on the bench and her Teddiursa shifted to sit in her lap. Jérémie pointedly ignored the bear-like Pokémon for obvious reasons; not that the creature was at fault, but that one incident had very much creeped him out.

Jérémie again looked around for Milly's best friend and partner in crime, and still she was absent.

"Is Tamiya battling?"

"Yup. She's going to try and get some interviews and photos whilst she's down there too, for our follow-up edition for the school paper. Are you here to cheer for Aelita?"

Jérémie blushed. "Well, not _just_ Aelita!" he protested. "I'm cheering for everyone else as well you know!"

"I knoooow," she said with just a hint of a smirk that wasn't lost on Jérémie. He'd seen that look before on Hiroki's face whenever he was within teasing distance of Ulrich and Yumi, and he thought to himself that he really hadn't missed out when it came to younger siblings.

There was an excited shout from a nearby spectator that caused a fresh ripple of energy to surge through the crowd.

"Hey, competition's starting!"

A moment later there came the screech of Jim's megaphone followed by the official opening announcement.

"Thanks for your patience everyone. Now we're ready to start with the first match of the day... Nicholas Poliakoff and Aelita Stones!"

Immediately the bespectacled boy was on his feet, Milly beside him; he cupped his hands over his mouth to project across the crowd;

"Go on Aelita!"

Again, he just about saw a pink speck and a return wave, and Jérémie sat down again heavily, body tensed in anticipation.

Down in the battler's area, Aelita turned from Jérémie to the rest of her friends as Odd slung a friendly arm around her shoulder.

"You'll be fine, Princess."

"Just remember your training," Ulrich added.

Yumi nodded, chiming in with a reassuring "Remember that no one's expecting anything from you. Just go out there and have fun."

"Thanks everyone." Aelita smiled at them all, the whole time feeling as though a hundred Metapods had just evolved in her stomach. She bunched her fists in the pockets of her dress to hide the trembling in her hands, feeling only slightly comforted by Cleffa's presence on her shoulder.

Back in the stands, Milly pulled a pencil from behind her ear and opened her notebook. "I don't even know why Nicholas competes," she said disdainfully. "He's so useless. I bet Sissi put him up to it."

"At least Aelita won't have too hard on a time on her first round," Jérémie commented.

It was true that Nicholas was a notoriously bad Trainer, but the significantly heavy Slowpoke pitted against the tiny Cleffa still looked at first glance like a match-up that wasn't going to swing in Aelita's favour.

"Trainers, take your positions!" Jim called.

Her head held high, Aelita crossed to one end of the battle field as Nicholas slouched over to the other. They stared one another down, Aelita with her hands in her pockets and Nicholas with his poised on the Pokéball at his belts, waiting for the starting signal.

_Breathe, Aelita. Keep calm. You can face down a hoard of Tarantulas, you can take on Nicholas. No problem._

Her hand reached up to rest on top of Cleffa's head.

"You okay, Robin?"

"Cleffaa!" it replied. It bounced lightly on her shoulder, seemingly unperturbed by the crowd. _Well, that makes one of us._

Their moment was interrupted once more by Jim, and beside him Mrs Hertz, holding up two flags in her hand - one red, for Aelita, the other green for Nicholas.

"Trainers, let the match commence!"

Nicholas' tossed his Pokéball out into the area and his Slowpoke landed heavily on the smooth ground, letting out a yawn as it did so. In complete contrast, Cleffa bounced cheerfully into the arena, its little hands raised as though squaring up for a fight. The crowd roared.

Surprisingly, Nicholas made the first move.

"Slowpoke, uh... Water Pulse," he called. Despite his usual slouch, Nicholas held a look of greater concentration than Aelita had ever seen on the boy's face, except perhaps when he was playing the drums. She didn't have time to ponder this, as a rapid-fire jet of water burst from the pink Pokémon's mouth, soaking Aelita's half of the arena and turning the ground soggy with mud. Cleffa managed to dodge just in time and skidded to one side, shaking excess mud from its fur.

That was the wake-up call Aelita needed. The cold shock of water seeping in her boots and the adrenaline coursing through her system cleared her mind of external pressures, of the shouts and cheers of the crowd. She had trained for this, in-between lessons and XANA attacks and after school with Ulrich, Odd and Yumi. She was still nervous, but prepared.

"Well done, Robin. Let's do this."

"Cle-Cle-Cleffa!"

Nicholas's Slowpoke sent another jet of water, followed by another, until the arena was filled with puddles and Aelita's Cleffa was running out of breath and Aelita fought against panic as she noticed the creature beginning to tire. The tiny Pokémon looked up at Aelita curiously, as if to say 'Do you have a plan?'

"Just... give me a minute," she mumbled. She ran through her Pokémon's roster of moves in her mind and suddenly knew what she had to do. "Wait for the next Water Pulse and get ready, Robin."

The Pokémon nodded.

"Come on Nicholas!" Sissi was screeching at the top of her lungs, Hervé yelling his encouragement a little less dynamically beside her. The other students cowered, except Odd, Ulrich and Yumi, who watched on the sidelines with arms crossed and critical expressions.

"What's she doing?" Odd asked. "Come on Aelita, make a move already!"

"She looked nervous when she started out. I hope she's okay," Yumi added.

The Japanese girl's frown increased when Nicholas' Slowpoke geared up for yet another Water Pulse and Cleffa, breathing heavily, stood right in the centre of the arena. Nicholas wasn't known for creative strategies, but even this had merit; wearing down the opponent until they were exhausted and eventually one of the attacks was bound to hit.

A swirl of water spiralled in the Slowpoke's mouth. It reared up slightly, and prepared to fire.

"Water Pulse!"

And Aelita yelled,

"Copycat!"

Cleffa glowed with a faint yellow-pink light, and before the audience could blink, twin Water Pulses were battling for dominance in the centre of the field, one from each Pokémon. They struggled for what felt like an age, the force of impact pushing them both further back and their legs leaving deep tracts in the ground.

"All right, Aelita!" Odd and Ulrich yelled, swapping high-fives. Up in the stands, Jérémie was throwing his magazine in the air in celebration.

"Don't celebrate too soon you guys. It's no good," Yumi said. "A clever idea, but Aelita's Pokémon just doesn't have the power behind it."

Odd and Ulrich faltered, and sure enough Cleffa was being pushed back. Soon she'd be out of bounds, if not completely overwhelmed. Aelita seemed to realise this too because over the roar of rushing water she could faintly be heard calling off the attack. In a flurry of movement, Cleffa dived out of the way as the force of two jets of water soaked the stadium. The audience members and battlers closest to the arena groaned as they wrung out their clothes and hair.

"Okay," Aelita breathed. "Time for a different approach. "Cleffa, use Pound!"

The Pokémon bounced forward, its carefree expression now more determined, and was within reach of its opponent.

"Nicholas!" Sissi yelled. Was it Aelita's imagination, or did that sound like a cue? She wondered if Sissi had hand-written Nicholas' battle plan, or at least parts of it.

Obediently Nicholas called out, "Disable!" and Cleffa sunk to the ground, holding its arm, 'Pound' rendered useless. Aelita blinked.

And then, _then_, in a flash of inspiration, she knew what to do.

"Robin use Copycat!"

Cleffa glowed slightly again, and now with a new move in her roster, she hopped back and waited for Aelita's next move. Aelita on the other hand, waited for Nicholas'.

She knew exactly what he'd do. This was Nicholas after all; he wasn't exactly known for his creativity most of the time. Sure enough, he issued the order for a Water Pulse and his Slowpoke slowly opened his mouth. Water began to form, until Aelita gave the command.

"Disable!"

The attack faltered. Nicholas and his Slowpoke stared with perfectly matched expressions of astonishment.

Odd's jaw dropped open. "Did... Did Aelita just take out Nicholas' best attack?"

Yumi grinned. "She sure did."

Back in the stands, Jérémie had undergone an entire spectrum of emotions within the space of a few minutes, from anxiety to excitement to disappointment and finally back around to relief, but progressing now into curiosity as he wondered what Aelita would do next.

"Wow, Aelita's pretty good!" Milly said. "Hard to believe she never had a Pokémon before she came to Kadic."

"Hm," Jéremie replied absently. "She's been training a lot. Besides, I got her off to a good start with Cleffa."

"You got her Pokémon for her?"

"Well... yeah." _Along with her birth certificate, her suitcase, her mobile, her wardrobe... y'know, when I materialised her._ "It's a long story."

They spoke as Aelita and Nicholas' Pokémon stared one another down, catching their breath, but soon the battle was on again in a flurry of movement.

"Psyshock, Robin!" Aelita called.

The Pokémon concentrated; a moment later purple specks of pyschic energy formed around its opponent. There was an explosion of pure psychic energy. Aelita held her breath... and when the dust settled, the Slowpoke lay flat on its stomach, unconscious.

Mrs Hertz raised the red flag. The audience erupted and Aelita beamed as Jim declared her victory.

"Aelita Stones will progress to the next round!"

She gathered up her Pokémon in arms and hugged it tightly, talking away, and she had barely stepped off the field before she was surrounded by her friends, all offering her and her Cleffa high-fives and congratulations.

"Thanks," she mumbled, blushing darkly beneath the praise. The small pink Pokémon in her arms chattered happily, accepting a subtly offered Pokéblock from Odd. Meanwhile, Jérémie heaved a sigh of relief as he praised his own presence of mind to gift Aelita with some useful TMs as well as her Pokémon.

Sissi stalked past the celebrating group of friends with fists clenched at her sides.

"Hmph. Mrs Einstein and her fancy strategies. More like luck if you ask me."

Aelita and the others didn't even have time to get in a retort before she stalked past, shooting Nicholas a disgusted look on her way. The boy shuffled past, staring intently at the sphere in his hand which now held his defeated Pokémon, and Aelita watched him go with sympathy, not missing the increase in his usual slow pace as he crossed the grounds to the Infirmary.

"They'll be okay," Yumi spoke softly behind her, but Aelita just nodded. They sat together on the grass with soda and snacks and watched as the staff made the preparations for the next match, where the warm weather meant that the ground was already almost dry.

"Next up, Bastien Roux versus Xavier Gosselin!"

Knowing that none of her friends were up to battle, Aelita stood once more. "I'm going to go and heal Robin before the next round," she announced, and headed in the direction of the school building.

The ensuing battles ranged from amusing (a Ditto versus Ditto where the Trainers even got confused as to whose was whose), to the impressive (a near stalemate between an Arbok and Seviper), until Yumi glanced at the match-ups list and got to her feet, stretching.

"Almost me," she said, rolling out the stiffness in her shoulder. When her battle arrived, she stepped calmly into the ring, with her Absol loping casually beside her. Naomi was her opponent and she stood with one hand on her hips, waving and posing for the crowd. Her Pikachu wagged its lightning-bolt tail happily. Yumi rolled her eyes; Team Little Miss Sunshine, she couldn't help dubbing them in her head, weren't taking this seriously. And If Naomi's drumming was anything like her battling, this was going to be an easy match.

"Ready, Kage?"

The Absol nodded silently, his sharp claws scraping slightly against the ground.

As it happened, the match was an easy one. With an elegant and powerful display, slipping through the faintest of shadows before re-emerging and its fangs and claws glinting in the sunlight as it moved smooth as liquid through the air, Kage the Absol emerged the victory with barely a scratch and only a patch of thunder-singed fur.

Odd and Ulrich won their matches soon after, completing the group of friends in the second round. As the others took a break to stretch their legs and discuss strategies, Ulrich scrutinised the pitch. Even when they returned, he remained lost in his own world, all of his thoughts centered on the match that was just starting.

It was William's.

His was the fastest win of the tournament so far. A strategic Rain Dance (at which the audience hastily covered their heads with whatever coats and parasols they could find) and Thunder combo, leaving Hervé and his Raticate drenched, demoralised, and deeply humiliated. Ulrich watched as William strode directly over the arena and held out his hand for Hervé to shake. He couldn't hear from where he was sitting, but the words were obvious. _"Hey, Hervé. Good match, thanks."_

Hervé on the other hand didn't even speak, simply knocked the hand away and walked past. William shrugged to himself, bending to pat Strife on the head.

Ulrich sneered. Inwardly though, he was worried. Had he put in enough training? Would Yumi really think less of him if he lost to William? He couldn't lose to William though, that would be unbearable. Because not only was William a great Trainer, but he just had to go and be so infuriatingly _nice_ about it.

Odd leaned over and waved an open packet of sweets in front of his best friend. Ulrich took one automatically and popped it into his mouth, his gaze following William until he disappeared from sight.

"Sissi's gang aren't very sporting today, are they?" Odd commented.

"When are they ever?"

"Good point. Here, 'Nana."

He took a candy and tossed it absently into his Aipom's mouth. The Pokémon leaped up to catch it, and soon the boy and Aipom were pelting one another with candy as though this were a completely normal bonding exercise. A misaimed sweet hit Odd on the bridge of his nose, and Ulrich couldn't help but crack a smile.

**/**

"Matthieu Ducrocq is out! The victory goes to Sissi Delmas!"

In a flashy display that almost cost her the match, Sissi had just about won. Despite this, she didn't look too pleased. Odd watched her say something to Matthieu, then cross to the competitor's area with her Jigglypuff practically running to keep up.

"Looks like we're not shot of her yet," sighed Odd. "What a shame, it's too bad-"

Odd paused, blinked hard then held up his hand in a 'wait just one second' gesture. He spun around strode to the match-ups chart, and when he came back his face held an expression of barely-contained glee.

"What's up with you?" Ulrich asked, eyebrow raised.

"Sissi just won her match, right?"

"Yeah..."

"And I just won mine."

"Oh! So that means you're-"

"Too right. Man, this is gonna be _fun_."

Ulrich snickered "Don't destroy her too much, Odd."

"What, you want to do battle against her in the next few rounds?"

Ulrich considered this for the briefest of moments. Then,

"...On second thoughts, make sure you take her down."

Odd laughed, patting Ulrich on the shoulder. "That's just what I thought. Don't worry, good buddy. Just leave it to me."

It felt like hours later, and Yumi, Ulrich and Aelita all expressed frequent surprise that Odd hadn't worn a hole in the ground with his pacing, when the announcement was made.

"Next match: Sissi Delmas versus Odd Della Robbia!"

"Well, wish me luck you guys." Odd waved to them, he and Banana both grinning.

"Good luck!" they chorused obediently after him, as he took his place on the pitch.

"Trainers, let the match commence!"

Sissi and Odd smirked at one another, whilst their Pokémon leapt enthusiastically into the arena and stood head-to-head. The Jigglypuff and Aipom had been something of rivals, ever since Odd's first day at Kadic, when the monkey-like Pokémon had stolen Jigglypuff's lunchtime cupcake. A chase had ensued, and both students (and Pokémon, by extension) had been given detention.

They had just opened their mouths to exchange insults, when there came a shout from the crowd that sounded suspiciously like William.

"You two had better not start insulting each other and forget to battle!"

Everyone laughed, Odd included, but Sissi scowled in the general direction of the voice.

"Whatever," she huffed. "Princess, use Sing!"

Odd just had time to think _that nickname suits Aelita much better_, and Jim just had time to yell "everybody grab your headphones!" before the Jigglypuff opened its mouth, sucking air into its impressive lungs.

"'Nana, Swift!" Odd called, and as an afterthought, "Sorry Sissi, but I'm not due a nap for another few hours yet." He grinned as a ray of stars threw the Jigglypuff's concentration off before it could utter so much as a single note.

No one paid any attention to the shouts from the school gate.

Not at first, anyway. Not until the sound came closer, accompanied by swift footsteps on grass and the deafening roar of a huge, hulking creature that shot like an arrow across the pitch, kicking up mud as it went. Some people cried out, in panic and confusion, but no one had any time to truly react.

Sissi screamed.

The creature lunged at Odd.


End file.
